Local Place Plans

Local Place Plans (LPPs) were introduced by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 with the aim of enhancing engagement in development planning, and empowering communities to play a proactive role in defining the future of their places. They are community-led plans setting out proposals for the development and use of land. Once registered by the planning authority, they are to be taken into account in the preparation of the local development plan.

Local Place Plans relate to development and the use of land. Examples of the issues that they might address include:

• proposals for new homes (including affordable), local employment, tourism or community facilities
• sites which help support new renewable energy projects, or climate change adaptation measures, such as flood mitigation
• improvements to town and neighbourhood centres
• improvements to open space, play facilities and active travel
• conservation of the natural and built environment
• land for community food growing

Local Place Plans provide communities with the ability to shape the appearance, form and function of the places in which they live. These plans can raise awareness and bring attention to issues that are experienced in a community and explore what actions can be taken to improve them.

They have a statutory role in shaping the planning process as an important input to the preparation of Local Development Plans. They can also help the Council, Community Planning Partners and funding organisations to better understand local issues and where to target investment and services.

Our Is a LPP right for your community page aims to help communities to decide whether a Local Place Plan is right for their community and what alternative options a community might want to consider instead.

The Scottish Government has published a Circular (Circular 1/2022: Local Place Plans) which provides guidance for both communities and planning authorities on the preparation, submission and registration of Local Place Plans.

We've put together a Short guide to preparing LPPs that aims to provide a summary of the process and requirement for preparing Local Place Plans. Further guidance and resources are available at Our Place - Local Place Plans and on the Planning Aid Scotland website.

Local Place Plans should relate to a recognisable area or community, but this can take many shapes and forms. For example, this could include:

• Community Council Boundaries
• Towns or villages
• Individual neighbourhoods within settlements
• Any other geography a community self-defines itself by

A map of the area covered will be needed when preparing a Local Place Plan.

Local Place Plans must be prepared by a Community Council or a ‘community-controlled body’ (as defined by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015). If you are unsure, we can help to advise what qualifies under these definitions.

Local Place Plans registered through the Council will not be part of the ‘development plan’ as defined by the Planning Act but will feed into the preparation of Fife’s Local Development Plan.

Communities can participate in all parts of the planning system, including Fife’s Local Development Plan and planning applications. Local Place Plans are not intended to replace these opportunities, but to complement them.

In Fife, there are three tiers of community plans.

1. LOIP (Plan for Fife). This covers the whole of Fife.

2. Local Community Plans. There are seven of these, at an area-level, that sit beneath this.

3. Neighbourhood Plans cover many smaller areas in Fife, and these are tied to the Local Community Plans. These represent Locality Plans as defined by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

In addition to the statutory plans detailed above, a number of communities have prepared a range of Community Action Plans, some of them receiving support from Fife Council’s Communities and Neighbourhood Service, Coalfields Regeneration Trust and Planning Aid Scotland. We are adding these to the area pages on Fife’s Community Portal.

There is clear crossover between Neighbourhood Action Plans, Community Action Plans and Local Place Plans. We understand that for communities looking to engage in improving their local area, there may be a confusion about which plans they need to engage with and the relationship between plans. Over time, we will explore options to combine these processes where possible to make local community planning easier.

If your community has produced a recent plan which meets criteria for Local Place Plans, it may be possible to use this as a basis for submission. We will need to consider this in the context of requirements from the legislation.

Please refer to the Circular and check that you have undertaken the necessary engagement and included relevant information in your plan prior to submission.

While there is no dedicated funding currently available to assist with the production of Local Place Plans, further information is available on our Fife Grants page or by following @FifeFundingCommunity on Facebook for regular updates. Any new funding streams that become available will be added to this site and promoted.

Addressing the climate emergency is a priority for the council. Our Climate and Zero Waste team have identified capacity to provide assistance on climate issues for up to two Local Place Plans in Fife over the coming year. If you are interested in finding out more about this, please email LPP@fife.gov.uk

The KnowFife Partnership Hub provides information and research about Fife. This includes access to Community Profiles and related resources.

When you're creating a place plan, it's important to understand the existing assets of the area, such as the built and natural heritage. Heritage can make a significant contribution to place, identity, health, education, culture, well-being, tourism, sustainability. Heritage assets should be considered in this context.

It's also important to consider existing plans and strategies relevant to the local area.

Please see our "Useful Links" page above, for more information on these.